Easter egg hunt at Brentwood Hills

Anne and I were being silly!

Abbie's hunting for eggs.

Abbie likes this Easter bunny-Mr. Andy where she can see his face!

Taylor, Easter bunny, Sophie, Anaiah and Abby Whitman

Mary Kate, Sophie, Anna Lea, Savannah and Abbie

Lance and Henley High

We had an Easter egg hunt at church the weekend before Easter.  It was a fairly windy day.  The girls had a great time hunting eggs but their egg hunts were at the same time this year  (they normally have 2 hunts going on at the same time for different age groups).  They had popcorn, cotton candy and lemonade that people could enjoy.  Lance told us that Henley only wanted to hunt for eggs that were pink!  The girls had a great time hanging out with their friends.  Matt made sure that he took some pictures of Sophie and her friends because this will probably be their last year to hunt eggs at the church egg hunt.  

Daddy/Daughter Dance

We're ready for a night out on the town!

Sophie and Abbie with their daddy

Originally, the Daddy/Daughter dance at school was scheduled for the 1st weekend in March but we had snow this year so the girls were out of school a lot this winter.  They rescheduled the dance for the week after Spring Break.  Matt and the girls met our friends, Dave, Abby and Sophie Clark, at Carabba's for dinner and then they went to the dance.  They had a great time!  It was a little bit chilly still.  Sophie had planned to wear a different dress but since the dance was rescheduled and it was held after Aunt Leia's wedding, Sophie decided to wear her junior bridesmaid dress one more time.  =)  It's hard to believe how grown up they are becoming!

Leia and Rahul's Wedding

Leia and Rahul at the rehearsal.

Do we have to link arms? (that was Luke and Sophie's reaction.)

Matt and Teresa (A.K.A. Mother of the Bride)

Leia was a beautiful bride.

Abbie and Aunt Leia

Paula and Mimi try to get some curls in Sophie's hair.

The reception was so pretty!

Here comes trouble!

Sophie, Luke, Abbie and Layton 

Rahul sees Leia coming down the aisle.

Matt and Paula at the reception.

Leia is ready to throw the bouquet.

I know that I am way behind on posting these pictures but here are some pictures from Leia and Rahul's wedding that was held over the girls Spring Break in March (March 21).  Leia and Rahul got engaged last March at Disney World.  They got married at the church that Matt's family has attended for many years in Richmond, VA.  It was a beautiful day for a wedding despite all of the cold weather and rain that came through a few days before the wedding.  Abbie was the flower girl and she carried Leia's Easter basket that she has always used.  Layton, Matt's cousin's little boy, was the ring bearer.  Sophie was the Junior bridesmaid and Luke (Layton's brother) was the Junior groomsmen.  Leia looked beautiful!!  It was very bittersweet seeing Matt escort Leia down the aisle since his dad passed away a few months ago. Matt's mom, Sophie and I all became a little emotional when Matt walked Leia down.  Then, Abbie saw that Sophie was crying and she teared up too.  

There were about 150 people at the wedding.  Several of Matt's aunts and uncles were able to come in from out of town so that was nice.  The reception was held at the church and they also had a tent there to provide some extra room.  It was funny during the reception because there was a Kentucky basketball game on.  A whole bunch of people from Matt's family were trying to watch the game on their phones, etc.  One of the deacons was able to put the game up on the screen in the auditorium and so people were in there watching the game.  The kids (especially Abbie and Layton) had a great time gathering up the silk flower petals in their baskets and then they would take turns dumping them on each other's heads.  One of the adults had a brilliant idea and she suggested that the kids could have a contest to see who could pick up the most flower petals.  The kids who won got a few dollars each.

Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum

a rare good shot of us taken by one of the girls

"Miss" Abbie before she took over the camera and began taking pictures of almost all of the planes!

The girls with the Discovery rocket.

Matt has really been hoping that we could take the girls to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (I think that's what it is called) just outside D.C.  The girls were a little bored after a short time but they had an O.K. time.  Abbie really enjoyed taking pictures of all of the planes.  Paula had hoped that our family might be able to see one of her cousins that lives in the area but we were not able to get in touch with them.  We stayed with our friends, the McClure's the night before and had a wonderful visit!  We were able to meet up with our friend, Darla, and her daughter, Brooklyn for lunch.  They are temporarily living in the area.  After lunch, we drove back to Richmond, VA to spend time with Matt's mom, Teresa and his sister, Leia, and help prepare for Leia's wedding day!!

Day 2 in Washington

Abbie says, "Hello, welcome to my house."

Air & Space

It was windy at the Washington Monument

View from the top of the monument

Obama's back yard.

Cupcake break at Georgetwon Cupcake (As seen on TV-- DC Cupcakes)

The Potomac River in Georgetown with Watergate and the Kennedy Center in the background

On our second day in DC, we visited the Archives.  We enjoyed seeing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.  We walked through a sculpture garden, and Abbie really liked the house sculpture in the first picture.  We visited the Air and Space Museum.  Abbie and Sophie were interested in seeing one of Amelia Earhart's planes, and the Wright Brothers' first plane.  Matt had acquired tickets for the observation center at the top of the Washington Monument, and we walked over there after lunch.  After visiting the Monument, we visited Georgetown for a cupcake break.  We waited in line for about 15 minutes before being able to order at the cupcake shop.  Everyone enjoyed trying the different flavored cupcakes.  It was a busy day and we were worn out.  Later that afternoon, we drove over to our friend's home, the McClure's.  Our girls enjoyed playing basketball and Legos with Nelson and Grant.  It was St. Patrick's Day.  Our family went with the McClure's to a local restaurant called Mike's Grill which was a real treat!

Afternoon in Washington

Look, I'm a unicorn

The girls had a lot of fun with the revolving door at the hotel.

After visiting Mt. Vernon, we drove into Washington, DC.  We visited the Jefferson Memorial, then we walked to the FDR memorial, and the MLK memorial.  We checked into the Willard Hotel, which is an old and somewhat famous hotel.  It had been an exhausting day! We ate dinner at the Shake Shack in downtown Washington.  They had delicious burgers and shakes.  We took the girls by the gift shop of the International Spy Museum afterwards and then walked back to our hotel.

Spring Break visit to Mt. Vernon

Hello President and Mrs. Washington!  It's lovely to meet you!

Sophie, Abbie, Grant and Nelson

our family at Mt. Vernon

Abbie, Nelson and Sophie hanging out on the front porch

This year, for the girls Spring Break, we drove up to Richmond, VA to spend time with Matt's mom, Teresa and his sister, Leia, who was getting married on the 2nd Saturday of the Spring Break.  We drove to Richmond on Saturday.  On Sunday, we spent time with Matt's family and then on Monday, we left and drove to Mt. Vernon about 2 hours away.  We packed bags for about a 2 day stay in the Washington, D.C. area because we knew that Matt's mom and sister would have lots of last minute details to see about before the wedding.

Well, as they say, "some things are just meant to be" and that's the way it was for us on our trip.  Matt had bought our tickets for Mt. Vernon in advance.  It was quite chilly when we arrived there in the mid-morning but it gradually warmed up.  Within 5-10 minutes of our arrival at Mt. Vernon, I ran into a good friend of ours from when we had lived up in Maryland about 10 years ago.  I thought that a little boy looked like her son in the visitor center but I wasn't sure.  Then, my friend, Katherine McClure, walked over next to her son a few minutes later.  Their family lives in a suburb right outside D.C. and the boys happened to be out of school that day.  Our family watched a film with them and then we hung out for most of our time at Mt. Vernon.  Katherine's boys, Nelson and Grant, are the same ages (approximately) as the girls.  The boys enjoyed showing the girls around Mt. Vernon and the girls loved hanging out with other children their ages and hearing about history from someone besides their parents. Right before we had arrived at Mt. Vernon, Abbie had said, "oh, this is so boring!"  I was like, "Our 1st President, George Washington actually lived here.  How cool is that?"  We toured the blacksmith and livery and all the places outside the house and then enjoyed touring Mt. Vernon. The girls liked seeing George Washington's false teeth.   It turned into a very pleasant, sunny day.  We already had a hotel lined up for that night but Katherine invited us to stay at their home while we were in the area.